Finance news

• Malone says Lions Gate could buy Starz, other networks: WSJ

  03-06-2015 23:56 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Lions Gate Entertainment Corp could buy television network Starz and other "free radicals" in the industry, media mogul John Malone told the Wall Street Journal. Malone, who owns roughly 3 percent of Lions Gate, said in an annual meeting of his investment holding companies that new Internet-based TV offerings and "skinny" TV packages will put pressure on the traditional cable TV bundle, the Journal said. Lions Gate had a 2.3 pct stake in Starz's series A common stock as of March 30.
  
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• Save well early, allocate well late

  03-06-2015 23:35
  (Reuters) - Concentrate on savings when you are young, but worry more about making the right asset allocation as you get closer to retirement.
  
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• NII Holdings chief denies giving creditors sweetheart deal in bankruptcy case

  03-06-2015 23:29
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The chief executive officer of Nextel's bankrupt Latin American arm denied giving bondholders a sweetheart deal as he testified on Wednesday in New York on the company's $4.35...
  
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• France, Germany call for reinforced eurozone

  03-06-2015 23:13 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The French and German economy ministers, in a joint statement to be published in European newspapers Thursday, call for a strengthened eurozone with a common budgetary mechanism and tools to avoid the kind of debt problems Greece is suffering. "It's time to strengthen the eurozone by way of the EU's biggest reform," Emmanuel Macron and his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel said in the comments published by France's Le Figaro, Britain's The Guardian, Germany's Die Welt, Spain's El Pais and other
  
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• US economy resumed growth after Q1 stall: Fed Beige Book

  03-06-2015 23:08 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The US economy cranked back into middle gear during April and May after stalling in the first quarter of the year, the Federal Reserve's Beige Book regional survey said Wednesday. Consumer spending played a big part in the rebound, it said, as did construction and tourism. Respondents to the regional survey, which helps shape Fed policy decisions, "were generally optimistic" in their outlook, expecting growth to continue or pick up.
  
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• Fed’s Bullard cites near-term economic concerns

  03-06-2015 23:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A top Federal Reserve official on Wednesday said first-quarter economic weakness was largely due to temporary factors, but near-term concerns still loomed over the U.S. economy. St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard, a policy hawk who has repeatedly said the Fed has been too patient in removing its accommodative monetary policy, struck a more cautious tone than he has in previous statements. Bullard said in the big picture, the Fed should already be normalizing monetary policy.
  
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• Encouraging economic news gives US stocks a modest bump

  03-06-2015 23:00 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Encouraging economic news pushed stocks higher Wednesday, although a slump in energy companies and utilities kept broader gains in check.
  
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• Stern Advice: Peak 30-something

  03-06-2015 22:42
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Maybe it is time for a millennial remake of that 1980s boomer angst television show, "thirtysomething," because there are more 30-year-olds in the United States than ever...
  
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• C$ weakens as trade picture darkens; euro jumps

  03-06-2015 22:38 via news.yahoo.com
  
  TORONTO/OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar weakened against the greenback on Wednesday, weighed by more disappointing economic data, this time a larger-than-expected Canadian trade deficit in April. Currency markets were dominated by euro-centric trading, however, as the common currency rose anew after the European Central Bank kept monetary policy steady. The Canadian dollar fell to a three-month low against the euro .
  
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• U.S. stocks advance on data, Greek hopes; bund yields, euro rise

  03-06-2015 22:28 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street stocks rose modestly on Wednesday on hopes for an imminent Greek debt agreement and after data pointed to renewed life in the U.S. economy, while German debt yields climbed after comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi. German 10-year bond yields moved as high as 0.887 percent, a day after their biggest jump in nearly three years, after the ECB raised its inflation forecast for 2015. Draghi said the central bank saw no reas
  
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• Wall Street ends higher on Greece optimism

  03-06-2015 22:03 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, helped by optimism that Greece was close to an agreement to avoid a default and as further gains in bond yields lifted financials.
  
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• Fed approves BB&T's acquisition of Bank of Kentucky Financial

  03-06-2015 22:03
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday said it had approved BB&T Corp's application to acquire Bank of Kentucky Financial Corp.
  
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• Encouraging economic news sends US stocks higher

  03-06-2015 20:58 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks moved higher in afternoon trading on Wednesday as investors welcomed some encouraging economic news. Seven of the 10 industry sectors in the Standard and Poor's 500 index rose. The buying follows a rise in overseas markets amid hopes of a breakthrough in Greece's protracted discussions with its creditors.
  
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• US economy grew in April-May after Q1 stall: Fed Beige Book

  03-06-2015 20:51 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The US economy returned to modest-to-moderate growth during April and May after stalling in the first quarter of the year, the Federal Reserve's Beige Book survey said Wednesday. Most of the Fed's 12 districts saw gains in consumer spending, including on cars and homes, Construction, travel and tourism strengthened in most areas.
  
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• U.S. stocks gain on data, Greek hopes; bund yields, euro climb

  03-06-2015 20:38 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street rose modestly on optimism an agreement over Greek debt was drawing closer and as data pointed to renewed life in the U.S. economy, while German debt yields climbed after comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi. German debt yields moved as high as 0.887 percent, a day after their biggest jump in nearly three years, as the ECB raised its inflation forecast for 2015. Draghi said the central bank saw no reason to adjust its mon
  
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• Caesars argues case for staying lawsuits related to bankrupt unit

  03-06-2015 20:24
  CHICAGO, June 3 (Reuters) - Caesars Entertainment Corp
  began a trial on Wednesday, hoping to convince a judge
  to put on hold lawsuits against the casino company that it said
  threatened plans to...
  
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• U.S.-based bond funds attract $626 million, lowest in six weeks: ICI

  03-06-2015 20:15
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors in U.S.-based mutual funds committed just $626 million to bond funds in the week ended May 27 after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen was clearer than ever that the...
  
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• U.S. economy growing at 'modest' to 'moderate' pace: Fed

  03-06-2015 20:04 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. economic activity expanded from early April to late May and growth was expected to continue at a "modest" to "moderate" pace against the backdrop of declining oil and gas investment, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday. In its Beige Book report of anecdotal information on business activity collected from contacts nationwide, the U.S. central bank said most of its regional Fed banks reported that while manufacturing had either held steady or increased, growth was temper
  
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• Fed sees moderate economic growth around country this spring

  03-06-2015 20:03 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve says the U.S. economy was growing at a moderate pace in most regions of the country in April and May, helped by gains in consumer spending on autos and other products.
  
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• Hedge fund boss Paulson gives Harvard record $400 mIllion

  03-06-2015 19:55 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Harvard University, which has educated many of the world's wealthiest investors, is now getting its biggest single gift from one them - a $400 million donation from Wall Street hedge fund investor John Paulson. The 59-year old financier said the gift was his way of thanking the Ivy League school for providing him and others with a top flight education, to which he credits his success at his $19 billion firm Paulson & Co. "Today is an opportunity to thank Harvard," he said at a
  
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• Wall St. trade group calls for new 'best interest' rule for brokers

  03-06-2015 19:45
  
  (Reuters) - A major Wall Street trade group on Wednesday called for overhauling a longstanding ethical rule for brokers by requiring them to act in customers' best interests when recommending...
  
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• EU commissioner says 'genuine progress' on Greek talks

  03-06-2015 19:37 via news.yahoo.com
  
  EU's commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs on Wednesday hailed "genuine progress" in some aspects of the negotiations over the Greek debt crisis but said there were still outstanding points. Progress had been made on a "whole series of topics" but "there are still a certain number of questions to be discussed that are really weighty", Pierre Moscovici said in the French parliament, pointing to pension and labour market reforms. "There is genuine p
  
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• Petrobras brings in Merrill to help in $5 billion selloff plan-sources

  03-06-2015 19:17
  
  LONDON/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Indebted Brazilian oil company Petrobrashas brought in Bank of America Merrill Lynchto help manage a multi-billion dollar divestment plan and has already...
  
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• Exclusive: BASF mulls potential bid for Syngenta

  03-06-2015 19:11
  
  (Reuters) - German chemicals group BASF SEis considering a potential offer for Syngenta AG , its Swiss rival which has received a $45 billion takeover offer from Monsanto Co , people familiar with...
  
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• ECB sees growth faltering as it presses on with QE

  03-06-2015 18:03 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Europe has lost some growth momentum and bond market volatility is here to stay, the European Central Bank said on Wednesday, pledging to see through its money printing scheme until its job of lifting the economy is done. In remarks after the bank left rates on hold at record lows, ECB president Mario Draghi also urged a deal with Greece, which is facing default without aid, in order to keep it in the currency bloc. In what may be seen as a concession, Draghi said the eventual deal, now under ne
  
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• U.S. stocks climb on data, Greek hopes; bund yields up

  03-06-2015 17:52 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street moved higher on optimism an agreement was on the horizon surrounding Greek debt and data pointed to a rebound in the U.S. economy, while German debt yields climbed after comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi. German debt yields moved as high as 0.887 percent, a day after their biggest jump in nearly three years, after the ECB raised its inflation forecast for 2015. Draghi said the central bank sees no reason to adjust its monetary policy stance in response to a r
  
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• Cities keen on 'sharing economy' but concerned about safety

  03-06-2015 17:46 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — American cities are enticed by the economic growth and services that "sharing economy" companies such as Airbnb, Uber and Lyft can offer, but officials are anxious about safety in a largely unregulated realm, a city advocacy group found in a study released Wednesday.
  
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• U.S. trade, jobs data encouraging; services sector disappoints

  03-06-2015 17:43 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in April on a drop in imports, which surged in March following the end of a West Coast ports labor dispute, while companies picked up their hiring in May after a pullback the previous month. The data supported the notion the U.S. economy has recovered somewhat from a first-quarter contraction and bolstered expectations the Federal Reserve may consider raising interest rates later this year. Two private reports signaled slower growth
  
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• Wall Street rises as Greece worries fade, data impresses

  03-06-2015 17:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose in late morning trading on Wednesday on growing hopes that Greece would avert a default and as strong domestic data suggested the U.S. economic recovery was on track.
  
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• Hedge fund mogul Paulson gives Harvard record $400 mln donation

  03-06-2015 17:12 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Harvard University, which has educated many of the world's wealthiest investors, is now getting its biggest single gift from one them: a $400 million donation from Wall Street hedge fund mogul John Paulson. The 59-year old investor, who credits his Harvard Business School education for success at his $19 billion firm Paulson & Co, said he hoped the donation to Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) would help "improve humanity." "There is nothing more important to improve hu
  
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• MIDEAST STOCKS-Qatar's FIFA panic short-lived; Saudi slips, tracking oil

  03-06-2015 16:57 via news.yahoo.com
  
  * Most big losers in Qatar unrelated to soccer * GIS up 5.8 percent on drilling rig news * Dubai's Amlak surges in heavy trade * Egypt extends gains after improving PMI data By Olzhas Auyezov DUBAI, June 3 (Reuters) - Qatar's stock market closed nearly flat on Wednesday after a brief, panicked sell-off triggered by Sepp Blatter's surprise resignation from world soccer body FIFA. Dubai rose while other Gulf markets moved little. Blatter's decision to quit, just days after he was elected as FIFA p
  
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• Greece should stay in euro but deal must be 'strong': ECB

  03-06-2015 16:38 via news.yahoo.com
  
  European Central Bank president Mario Draghi said Wednesday that the ECB wanted Greece to remain in the single currency, but that a "strong agreement" was needed between Athens and its creditors. Draghi was speaking at a news conference after the ECB held its key interest rates unchanged at their current record low levels and said its raft of recent unconventional measures, such as a contested bond purchase programme, were gradually making themselves felt in the eurozone economy.
  
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• Harvard gets biggest gift ever: $400M from Wall Street alum

  03-06-2015 16:22 via news.yahoo.com
  
  BOSTON (AP) — Harvard University has received its biggest gift in school history — a $400 million donation from a prominent Wall Street investor.
  
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• Hedge fund mogul Paulson gives Harvard record $400 million donation

  03-06-2015 16:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Svea Herbst-Bayliss BOSTON (Reuters) - Harvard University, which has educated many of the world's wealthiest investors, is now getting its biggest single gift from one them: a $400 million donation from Wall Street hedge fund mogul John Paulson. The 59-year old investor, who credits his Harvard Business School education for success at his $19 billion firm Paulson & Co, said he hoped the donation to Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) would help "impr
  
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• South Africa's Sanlam four-month earnings up 17 pct

  03-06-2015 16:01 via news.yahoo.com
  
  South Africa's biggest insurer, Sanlam, reported on Wednesday a 17 percent jump in earnings for the first four months of this year as its personal finance division sales grew. Sanlam, which also has operations in Nigeria and 10 other African countries, said sales of its personal finance rose by 20 percent and new business grew by 15 percent to 68 billion rand ($5.5 billion) for the period to end-April. The life-insurer's emerging markets division grew 2 percent as the fall in oil price
  
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• Wall Street opens higher on strong private sector jobs data

  03-06-2015 16:00 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. stocks were higher in early trading on Wednesday after data showed that the country's private sector added more jobs than expected in May and the European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged at record lows. U.S. private employers added 201,000 jobs last month, a report by a payrolls processor ADP showed, higher than the 165,000 additions in April and economists' estimate of a gain of 200,000 for May. The data is a precursor to the U.S. Labor Department's non-farm payro
  
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• U.S. trade deficit shrinks; private jobs growth rebounds

  03-06-2015 16:00 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in April on a drop in imports, which surged in March following the end of a West Coast ports labor dispute, while companies picked up their hiring in May after a pullback the previous month. The data supported the notion the U.S. economy has recovered somewhat from a first-quarter contraction and bolstered expectations the Federal Reserve may consider raising interest rates later this year. "The takeaway for now is that the mas
  
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• Mobile phone access in Africa set to double in next five years

  03-06-2015 15:56 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Ed Cropley CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Eighty percent of sub-Saharan Africa’s 800 million people should have access to mobile telephones by the end of the decade, double the current rate, although government help is needed to reach far-flung areas, industry body group GSMA said Wednesday. The growth of mobile data - an even more powerful economic tool than simple voice services - also hinges on authorities allocating sufficient spectrum, said Mortimer Hope, the Africa director of GSMA. "We e
  
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• Encouraging job market news sends US stocks higher

  03-06-2015 15:42 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are opening slightly higher as traders welcomed some encouraging news about the job market.
  
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• Wall Street opens higher after strong ADP report

  03-06-2015 15:35 via news.yahoo.com
  
  REUTERS - U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday after a better-than-expected report on U.S. private sector employment for May and as the European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 55.22 points, or 0.31 percent, to 18,067.16, while the S&P 500 gained 4.98 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,114.58 and the Nasdaq Composite added 20.77 points, or 0.41 percent, to 5,097.30. (Reporting by Narottam Medhora in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
  
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• OECD calls US dip a blip, but chops world growth forecast

  03-06-2015 15:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The OECD on Wednesday sharply lowered its global growth forecasts for 2015 and 2016, dragged down partly by a "transitory" shortfall in US performance and by businesses and governments skimping on investment. "Global growth is projected to strengthen in the course of 2015 and 2016, but will remain modest relative to the pre-crisis period," the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said. It predicted the world economy would grow at a rate of 3.1 percent this ye
  
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• Survey: US business hiring picks up in May to 201,000

  03-06-2015 15:21 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. companies stepped up hiring in May, a private survey found, evidence that employers remain confident in the economy even after it contracted at the start of the year.
  
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• ECB calls on Greece to agree a strong, sustainable debt pact

  03-06-2015 15:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  European Central Bank President Mario Draghi called on Wednesday for a "strong agreement" with Greece to ensure it stays in the euro zone and also has a sustainable economy. "The governing council of the ECB wants Greece to stay in the euro. In the meantime, its banks, and therefore its wider economy, are dependent on emergency central bank funding, sanctioned by the ECB.
  
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• Wall Street set to open up on strong ADP jobs data

  03-06-2015 15:15 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street was set to open higher after data showed that the U.S. private sector added more jobs than expected in May and the European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged at record lows. U.S. private employers added 201,000 jobs last month, a report by a payrolls processor ADP showed, higher than the 165,000 additions in April and economists' estimate of a gain of 200,000 for May. The data is a precursor to the U.S. Labor Department's non-farm payrolls report on Friday, which i
  
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• US trade deficit drops sharply in April

  03-06-2015 15:08 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit declined sharply in April as exports posted a modest gain and imports fell, raising hopes that trade's drag on economic growth will ease in the current quarter.
  
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• BUZZ-U.S. STOCKS ON THE MOVE-Agenus, BHP Billiton, Violin

  03-06-2015 15:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street was set to open higher after data showed that the U.S. private sector added more jobs than expected in May and the European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged at record lows: Dow Jones ...
  
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• Canada posts near-record trade deficit, imports and exports drop

  03-06-2015 14:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Canada posted a near-record trade deficit of C$2.97 billion ($2.40 billion) in April, when both imports and exports fell in another sign of challenges facing the economy, Statistics Canada data showed on Wednesday. Canada is a major energy exporter and the economy has been hard hit by falling oil prices. Exports fell by 0.7 percent, the fourth straight monthly decline, pulled down in part by a 6.0 percent plunge in consumer goods.
  
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• Spanish, Italian, Portuguese ministers optimistic on Greek deal

  03-06-2015 14:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Finance ministers of other southern euro zone countries on Wednesday talked up the chances of reaching a cash-for-reforms deal with Greece, with Spain's Luis de Guindos saying he was certain it would happen. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will meet senior European officials later in the day in Brussels, where he is expected to hear the terms of a plan drawn up this week by top policymakers including German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The euro zone is a club where you can check in but you cann
  
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• Greece threatens to skip IMF payment; Tsipras set for EU talks

  03-06-2015 14:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Karolina Tagaris and Deepa Babington ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece threatened to miss a loan repayment to the IMF this week, opening the way for possible default, just hours before creditors were expected to present an ultimatum offering Athens funds in return for economic reform. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras visits Brussels later on Wednesday to see senior European officials, where he is expected to hear the terms of the plan drawn up this week at a meeting of top leaders, including German Chan
  
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• Greek bailout hopes help to shore up markets

  03-06-2015 14:11 via news.yahoo.com
  
  LONDON (AP) — Mounting hopes of a breakthrough in Greece's protracted bailout discussions with international creditors helped shore up global stock markets Wednesday.
  
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